All Editorial articles – Page 67
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BlogThe Bishop of London's legacy for young people
Last week the Bishop of London, Richard Chartres, retired after nearly 25 years in the role. YCW's consulting editor and head of children’s and youth ministry support for the Diocese of London, Sam Donoghue, shares his experiences of working with him over the years.
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BlogKaty Brand and teenage Christianity
If I was to write a stand-up comedy show about being a teenage Christian, I’d probably talk a lot about DC Talk, WWJD wristbands and using summer festivals as an opportunity for dating. It wouldn’t be a great performance, especially for those whose adolescent years weren’t spent in church halls and campsites in Somerset.
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BlogMentoring: Love
I ran a 10k race last October. I’m a ‘middle of the pack’ runner, so my time of 48:44 was acceptable but not mind-blowing. I occasionally entertain dreams of finishing on a podium, but deep down I’m resigned to it never happening. It’s too big a goal to achieve. On reflection, I realised that if I had improved my time by just one per cent, I would have jumped a staggering 358 places from 585th to 227th. That’s achievable. It just equates to better nutrition and a little more training time. Just a small life change could result in significant growth. Still not a podium, but I would be moving in the right direction.
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IssuesGames: Old School Games
With the ‘New Year, New Me’ motto safely left behind in January why not try some updated old school-style games? Like the latest app updates all the main things still work but they are just packaged with slightly fancier trimmings - some seem fully updated but with others you can hardly notice the difference.
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BlogWill my Muslim friend go to hell?
There are many questions that stop young people wanting to know more about God. Welcome to The Big Question, which will tackle one of these huge issues each month.
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BlogJustice: Fighting hunger
What are the children and young people in your church talking about? This young generation will change the world. They’re savvy creators, globally connected with a heart for their global neighbours, our job as youth and children’s workers is more important than ever.
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BlogCraft: The lost coin
The lost coin is a great story to get interactive with, helping children to explore themes of God’s love and our value to him, searching with patience, the lost being found and celebration at finding what you have been searching for. Here are some crafts to help bring these themes to life:
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BlogParable: Kieron and the bush (mega) death
Kieron glanced in the mirror. His faded black T-shirt was just the right shade of grey. An angry-looking tattoo peaked out from beneath the sleeve, the skull and serpent just visible on his upper arm. His hair hung long over his shoulders and his beard was coming on impressively. No one would ever know he was only 16. A quick check that the rips in his jeans were in just the right place, and he left the house.
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IssuesMeeting guide 4: A life of love
Meeting aim: To think about love in action in our communities.
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BlogMeeting guides 3: Live humbly
Meeting aim: To reflect on God’s call to be just and not act according to our own interests.
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BlogMeeting guide 2: The Good Samaritan
Meeting aim: To reflect on the commandment to love your neighbour and think through what that means for our lives.
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Faith at homePushy parenting
Children’s Commissioner Anne Longfield recently suggested that parents in the North of England should become ‘pushier’ in order to help their teenagers get better exam results. The Commissioner’s Growing up North research found that school leavers from London and the South-East are more likely to go to competitive universities than those in the North. Care for the Family’s Katharine Hill responds:
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IssuesWhat do you do when the parents want you out?
What do dogs, Indian food and parents have in common? They can all be your best friend, until they turn around and bite you. Managing your relationship with the parents of the children and young people in your group can be one of the trickiest tasks involved in ministry. Yet it’s also one of the areas we probably least prepare youth and children’s leaders for, whether they’re employed or volunteers. Parents can be your most important partners, particularly in the nurture of young people’s faith; parents can also be the most powerful obstruction to the success of your work. Investing time in them is an important part of your job which simply can’t be deprioritised or overlooked.
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IssuesThe Lab: Pursuing relationships
Relationships are the bread and butter of youth work. They are the key ingredient on which the rest of our youth work activities are built. Relationships are central to all our lives; through relationships we learn the social skills that help us navigate the world around us. In youth work, we turn this relationship-building into a professional skill. Young people who have positive and trusted relationships with significant adults have been shown to do better in school, have better mental health and be less involved with risk-taking behaviours.
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IssuesWhat are young people seeking help for?
Childline is a free private and confidential service helping anyone under 19 in the UK with any issue they’re going through. It was started in 1986 by Esther Rantzen and joined the NSPCC in 2006 in order to help reach more young people. In 2015-16, Childline carried out more than 300,000 counselling sessions, with 71 per cent of those taking place online.
